1 “When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you. 2 When the LORD your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. 3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, 4 for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you. – Deuteronomy 7:1-4 NLT

Hello family, as the nation of Israel prepared to move into the promise land God had some warnings for them especially. about marrying people from other nation. Before we continue lets be clear. IT IS A SPIRITUAL REASON GOD GAVE THEM THIS INSTRUCTION! IT IS NOT ABOUT SKIN COLOR OR ETHINC BACKGROUND!!!!

When a man and woman become husband and wife they bring with them their family heritage, family members, and everything else that is apart of there lives. You bring their life physical and spiritual into your life.This is why God warns usnot to be unequally yoked. Just look atking Solomon, he was the wisest of men but hedid not follow gods instruction about not marrying women from other nations. They all boughtthere religions thus leading solomon then the nation away from God (1 Kings 11:2).

Do not use the excuse I’mgonna lead him/her to Christ. Chances are he/she will draw you away. the marriage wont be fruitful the way god intended. I am being preparefor my future wife. i will continue to wait until god brings us together.During my first year in collegei had a girlfriend she said she was a “christian”. Looking back on it i see different. She may have proclaimed to gave here life to christ (thats not for me to judge) but christ was no place in the relationship. i was drawn away from God.

After the break up i prayed this prayer, “lord the next woman to become my girlfriend let her be the one you have for me. If she is not the one you have destined me to spent the rest of my earthly life with don’t let the relationship prosper kill it move us away from each other.” And God has done that he has shut down every relationship that i tried to start (keyword I). Life is too short to be going through break up after break up. We don’t need to add to the brokenness.if i can avoid staying out of the spiritual and emotional hospital i will do so.

And i am not talking down to anyone who has had multiple relationships. I know you have grown and learned just as i have about being equally yoked with another rooted strong believer.

1 “When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you. 2 When the LORD your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. 3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, 4 for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you. – Deuteronomy 7:1-4 NLT

Hello family, as the nation of Israel prepared to move into the promise land God had some warnings for them especially. about marrying people from other nation. Before we continue lets be clear. IT IS A SPIRITUAL REASON GOD GAVE THEM THIS INSTRUCTION! IT IS NOT ABOUT SKIN COLOR OR ETHINC BACKGROUND!!!!

When a man and woman become husband and wife they bring with them their family heritage, family members, and everything else that is apart of there lives. You bring their life physical and spiritual into your life.This is why God warns usnot to be unequally yoked. Just look atking Solomon, he was the wisest of men but hedid not follow gods instruction about not marrying women from other nations. They all boughtthere religions thus leading solomon then the nation away from God (1 Kings 11:2).

Do not use the excuse I’mgonna lead him/her to Christ. Chances are he/she will draw you away. the marriage wont be fruitful the way god intended. I am being preparefor my future wife. i will continue to wait until god brings us together.During my first year in collegei had a girlfriend she said she was a “christian”. Looking back on it i see different. She may have proclaimed to give here life to christ (thats not for me to judge) but christ was no place in the relationship. i was drawn away from God.

After the break up i prayed this prayer, “lord the next woman to become my girlfriend let her be the one you have for me. If she is not the one you have destined me to spent the rest of my earthly life with don’t let the relationship prosper kill it move us away from each other.” And God has done that he has shut down every relationship that i tried to start (keyword I). Life is too short to be going through break up after break up. We don’t need to add to the brokenness.if i can avoid staying out of the spiritual and emotional hospital i will do so.

And i am not talking down to anyone who has had multiple relationships. I’m know you have grown and learned just as i have about being equally yoked with another rooted strong believer.

20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. – Romans 8:20-22 NLT

Hello family, As a child this pice of scripture puzzled me! But a few night ago it all came together and went off like a light bulb!

Adams sin affected more than just us it affected all of creation! If Adam had not sinned the earth would not be cursed. all the disasters that go non would not have happened. This is why God will make a new heaven and earth (see Revelation). Everything you see on this earth is contaminated with sin, since we are the only ones that Christ came to save everything else must be destroyed. wow i love it when God lights up his word!

13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” – John 4:13-14 NLT

Hello family i read quote by Bob Marley that spoke to me. “Some feel the rain. Others just get wet”- Bob Marley.

Jesus told the disciples to come and follow me. He did not say come and watch me or come and hear me.He said, “Come follow me!” Follow in Hebrew is Dabaq (daw-bak), it means to cling, cleave to. Other definitions include to pursue closely.

If you cleave to someone, you go where they go, you are right in step with them. you start to act how they act, you begin to put on there personality. When a man and woman get married and become husband and wife they pour all they have into each other so that the marriage will be fruitful the way God designed it! They don’t just live under one roof together they are deeply involved in every aspect of that marriage both good and bad!

During our walk with God it will rain! We can choose to be grumpy and complain about how we are cold and how soggy our sock are (just get wet) or we embrace the downpour and see the benefit (feel the rain). Embrace all that God leads you through

“1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares [us], and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV”

Hello family, “The Elephant in the room” we all have one we just ignore them. the pas two weeks God put me face to face with mine (Pride). I knew it was there i just didn’t want to deal with it! I thought i can just let it hang in the background. No! God told me “Lets deal with this now! It has hung on to long!”Now God is helping me keep myself in check. It’s not painless but it is better. Get rid of the elephant in your room its taking up too much space it will only slow your growth

“7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. – Romans 5:7-9 NKJV.”

Hello family, I have seen the above statement post several times on Facebook. I saw it again about a week ago. and it resonated within me. “I’m not a christian because i’m strong and have it all together. I am a christian because I’m weak and admit i need a savior.”

Every day i need Christ! Sometimes i have to break it down to hour by hour. Everyday we wake up we step into the battle zone and we cant stand on our own! Their weredays when God has had to carry me from the time I got up to the time I laid my head down. It just blows my mind that god knowing all the junk and mess i would do, that He would think of me and my eternal soul, long before the earth came to form.

The world sees us as stuck up know it alls. Sadly some who proclaim to be christians are stuck up (thats another story). At the core of a true follower of Christ is a realization that we are so lost without Christ as the head of our life! The only reason we can have any amount of strength is because God gives it to us! “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8 NKJV. “I need Thee, O I need Thee;

“8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. – Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT.”

Hello family Sometimes when we mess up we feel like we have to “work” our way back to God. We can’t do that, we did not earn salvation and we can’t earn it. When we mess up God is there waiting for us to repent and come running to him.you can’t save your self! You feel that tug at your heart to simply turn to him. Answer that call and come back.

It is because of Christ blood that you can go boldly before God and ask for forgiveness

“23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. – Colossians 3:23-24 NKJV”

Hello family, we are wrapping up this series. if you have not read or hear part one please go back and listen or read part one. Links are at the bottom.

Any award man can give us is temporary. The high last but for a moment then we are left empty searching for the next pulpit shout out. So why do we volunteer at the soup kitchen, why do we volunteer to clean the church? We do it because it is for the glory of God. What ever we do we are supposed to do it for God and not for man. We also do these things because God called us to do it! There are people in churches doing things God never told them to do, they have started committees that God did not tell them to start. and they are not happy, 1. Because thats not what God called them to do. Everybody that can sing is not called to be in the choir.And 2. Their heart is in the wrong place they are looking for the glory and not to give God the glory.

With that said know where God has called you in you church body and other areas in you life. And when you operate in these areas He called you to do it for his glory!

“12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. 14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? 18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. – 1 Corinthians 12:12-18 NLT”

Hello family, we all have a part to play in the body of Christ. Some parts are at the forefront others are beside the scenes. Sunday my church had a guest speaker. In his message he talked about how God had called him to a church. he wondered why he was there. he soon found out.

He was eager to work, one of the church administrators asked him to fill a need and he did. His roll did not get any big recognition but yet it was still vital to the operation of that church body.

If you are volunteering your time to get a shout out from the pulpit you might as well sit down and stop because you heart is wrong. That is pride so check your motives before you volunteer for the soup kitchen